InuKag Week 2019
by foodnetworkstar
Summary: Oneshots based on the prompts for Tumblr's InuKag Week 2019.
1. Opposites Attract

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_, nor am I making profit from this story.

"You two are so much alike, it almost hurts."

Souta's offhand comment may have appeared to be innocent, but Kagome knew better. Souta never said anything unless there was a meaning behind it. He was a cunning preteen after all.

"Oh yeah?" she turned around in her chair, silently thankful for the break from her algebra homework. "What makes you say that, you little twerp?"

"Oh, I don't know," Souta entered her room, drawling out the vowels while speaking to his older sister. Settling himself down onto her bed, he leaned back onto his hands and tossed her a reproachful look. "Maybe your attitudes?"

Kagome scoffed and crossed her arms, fully facing her brother. "What attitude? The only one with an attitude here is you."

Souta kicked his feet and carefully considered his next move. The verbal sparring between siblings required careful consideration. He took in her seated position: feet firmly on the ground, arms crossed and hands holding opposite elbows. She meant business, so he had to get her off her guard. "You know, you look almost exactly like him sitting like that. He does the same thing when you scold him."

Kagome blinked, taken aback by this new information. This was not where she thought this was going to go. Souta had bested her expectations and preparations for this conversation, and there was not a whole lot of time to retort. Mentally conceding to the defeat, she unfolded her arms and tucked them into her lap. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the eleven-year-old across from her. He may have bested her, but that didn't mean she didn't want information out of him. "When did you get so observant?" She asked, hoping to stare him down.

Points could still be won.

"I see you less and less these days. I noticed changes easier."

Or not. Kagome felt fully defeated in that moment and realized that Souta had a point.

Kagome sighed and kicked her feet awkwardly. She didn't know how to respond to his statement. It was true. She was around less and less these days, barely keeping up with homework and killing her social life in the modern era.

But she was needed in the feudal era. There was not a whole lot else she could do.

Kagome wondered what brought on Souta's inquiry and invasion of her room. Normally, he was very respectful of her study time, although he had no problem wandering in and out of his sister's room when he pleased. Maybe he missed her.

Kagome stood, stretching by raising her hands above her head and swinging her arms in circles, much like how Inuyasha stretched just before going into battle. She motioned for Souta to follow her and walked towards the door. "I could use a break. Wanna watch a movie?"

Souta leapt off her bed in excitement, beating her to the open doorway and rushing down stairs.

"Only if I get to pick it!" He called after her, bounding down the stairs, two at a time.

Kagome walked slowly after him, snorting out a comment about not wanting to watch a children's movie.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Inuyasha walked through the front door and into the living room. Grandpa had been reading the morning paper, enjoying the quiet of the morning and peace of the empty household, but he knew with the arrival of his honorary grandson, the peace was gone. He continued to hold the paper up to his face, but stopped reading it, watching the other person in the room very carefully.

Inuyasha tossed Grandpa a half-interested look, rather unconcerned with him. A quick assessment of the situation told Inuyasha, however, that no one else was home.

Inuyasha plopped down and stared out the window. Mama Higurashi had put a bird house just outside the living room giving him something to look at. He stuck his legs under the table and leaned back on his hands, getting comfortable for a long wait.

Grandpa watched the teenager with careful eyes.

Normally he would have fussed about Kagome not being home or being hungry when he first walked through the door.

But here he was, sitting quietly and watching the birds come and go from the birdhouse.

Grandpa was suspicious.

He knew he should have taken this time to finish reading the newspaper and be grateful for the quiet, but he couldn't overlook Inuyasha's sudden stillness.

Grandpa lowered the paper and rested his hands on the table.

Inuyasha, finally noticing Grandpa's stare, flicked an ear over in his direction, but did nothing else.

"What's gotten into you, boy?" Grandpa's voice broke the silence.

Inuyasha turned his head and rested his cheek on his shoulder. Squinting his eyes at the older man before him, Inuyasha responded, "What do you mean, old man?"

"You aren't making any kind of fuss about leaving or eating. Are you feeling okay?" Grandpa leaned forward to put a hand on Inuyasha's forehead. "You don't have a fever."

Inuyasha stared hard at Grandpa. "Kagome told me I had to be more patient. That's what I'm doing," Inuyasha shook his head to remove Grandpa's hand. "I'm being patient."

Grandpa glowered at the boy before him. "Since when do you have any idea of how to be patient?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and looked back out the window. "I can be if I want to be."

"Oh, so you want to be patient."

Inuyasha didn't respond at first. He watched a little swallow duke it out with a slightly bigger one for access to the bird house. Inuyasha had never really been a patient person, a fact he was well aware of. But since Kagome had come into his life, he found himself wanting to be.

It was strange, the affect she had on him.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said, "I guess I do."

Grandpa was seemingly pleased by this response and folded his paper up and started to read the weather forecast for the week. "You remind me of Kagome, sitting like that."

Inuyasha looked away once again from the birds outside. "What?"

Grandpa didn't look at Inuyasha, but repeated, "You remind me of Kagome. She sits like that when she's relaxed."

Inuyasha thought about how he was sitting, legs in front and arms behind. How many times had he seen Kagome doing the exact same thing on a grassy hillside on a quiet day?

Maybe the old man had a point, Inuyasha considered.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Kaede watched Kagome pick off her peppers from the stew and put them in Inuyasha's bowl. Inuyasha for his part, only slightly paused in his scarfing to accept the offering of extra food.

Kaede thought back to when the two of them first met. They couldn't have been more opposite. She was kind in her approach to things; he was brash and unwavering. He was reluctant to trust anyone and faster to pick a fight; she was an open book and trusted to willingly. She was open to new experiences and quick to forgive others; he was jaded by a world that had rejected him and offered no one a second chance. He relied on himself only, self-sufficient in every sense; she relied on her community and those around her.

But here they were, what felt like a lifetime later, talking and sharing food.

Kaede could tell that Inuyasha's strength and resilience was rubbing off on Kagome. She had become a strong young miko, one that stood on her own two feet and stood up for what she believed in. She was steadily becoming more and more of a force to be reckoned with.

Inuyasha had taken in some of Kagome's softness. While he still picked on Shippo and started fights where ever he could, Inuyasha had become kinder. He was watching his mouth more, and he was offering help around the village when he was around.

The changes in both of them were so miniscule that someone who was meeting them for the first time would have no idea about them.

But Kaede did.

Watching the two youth interact, Kagome sharing her food (although unwanted portions) with Inuyasha and Inuyasha trusting Kagome enough to eat that close to her told Kaede much more than the other occupants in the room could ever know.

Opposites attract for a reason.


	2. Good Friend

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_, nor am I making profit from this story.

"You're my best friend, you know that, right?" Kagome's voice was soft, but carried far in the room. Inuyasha had his eyes closed against the flittering light of the fire heating up the small home, but opened them when she spoke.

Kagome was laying on her side, hands tucked up by her face and knees crooked. She was relaxed and comfortable, her face holding a gentle look as she watched the man across from her.

They were laying on their relatively new futon, enjoying the gentle, cooling breeze of an early spring night. Kagome has just come back, ready to start her life again in the feudal era a few weeks prior, so their home was bare and filled with minimal items.

This didn't bother them, though. They knew that soon enough it would be filled with goods and food, and memories would quickly follow.

Inuyasha was still sleeping in his fire rat robe. He had never owned a different outfit, so the thought of changing into a sleeping yukata was never on his mind. Kagome was sleeping in hers, a gift from Sango who, having just given birth, was still using her larger one to accommodate her stomach.

Once spring was in full swing, the merchants would be making their rounds and Kagome could get cloth to make her own. Until then, the kindness of her friend was much appreciated.

Inuyasha watched Kagome carefully for a long while, the light dancing across her soft features. He could tell the three years separated had rounded her body and her looks as she became more and more of a woman than a girl.

But the beauty she had was still her most prominent feature.

He considered her words carefully. He had never considered what they were. They had fallen naturally into a relationship with no definitions nor titles. Over time it had just become 'Inuyasha and Kagome', and everyone saw them as a duo.

Sometimes the villagers would pry and ask questions, but mostly they were left to their own devices.

Now that they were sharing a home, it was known they were to be married soon, although it was just a formality at this point.

Inuyasha turned from laying on his back to face Kagome on his side as well. "Yeah?" he asked her. "Your best friend?"

Kagome nodded, her eyes sparkling, sensing the tease.

"Not your lover?"

Kagome smiled and coyly tucked her face into the bedding, peeking only one eye at Inuyasha. "You're both." Her voice was soft and muffled but he heard her.

Inuyasha placed his face down on the bedding right next to hers and blew air into her face. "I thought I was annoying." He smiled at her crinkled face. "Worse than Souta ever was."

"Oh," Kagome said lifting her face to rest back on her hands, "you are."

She blew air up to his ears, causing them to wiggle from the sensation. "But you're still my best friend."

Inuyasha didn't respond at first. The room was filled with quiet peace as the two of them lay in silence. Inuyasha looked at her, seeing the rosy cheeks and striking eyes of the girl who had pulled the arrow from his heart all those years ago. He could still see the stubborn girl who fought off losing her soul with all her might, only to stumble when he called Kikyou's name. He saw the girl who cried for him, and shot a near fatal arrow at Naraku because he was calling Inuyasha names.

He saw the girl who paid no mind to the hateful words and looks that were thrown their way when they traveled. The same girl who had helped him build a family with strangers who had taunted and belittled him by making them see his worth. The girl who would proudly announce she was under his protection, so no one should mess with her.

He saw the girl who gave him love when no one else would, and asked for nothing in return.

It felt like an insult to her to call her his best friend. She was so much more than that to him. It was an oversimplification of their relationship. But he didn't know how to put into words what she was to him, so he went with it.

"You're my best friend, too." His voice was just as soft as hers had been, as if afraid to disturb their newfound peace.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

"Daddy," little hands pressed hard on Inuyasha's cheeks as his daughter spoke with an absolute inherited from her mother, "you're my bestest friend."

Inuyasha's eyebrows rose slightly, but he knew better than to laugh or questions his little girl. At three – almost four – years old she was resolute in her knowledge of the world, and very convinced she was right. Any questioning of her authority would be an unforgivable crime. So, he kept his face as straight as he could.

He had been picking vegetables from their garden for dinner. Kagome, heavily pregnant with their second child, was on bedrest until the baby arrived, so Inuyasha had taken their daughter outside to help him.

She had picked a few good summer squashes, but was now wanting a change of pace and conversation it appeared.

Inuyasha put the pepper he as holding in his hand in the basket with the other vegetables before placing his hands on his daughter's cheeks, mimicking the hold she had on him. "Oh yeah?" he asked her. "I'm your best friend? I thought the twins were."

Patting her father's cheek in a child's way of miming a parent's comfort, his daughter tutted at him. "No, Daddy." She pressed her forehead against his. "You're my bestest friend."

"What about Mommy?"

"Daddy!" his daughter exclaimed, tossing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Everybody knows that Daddies are their daughter's bestest friend! It's law of the land!"

Inuyasha held back a snort at her comment and her outburst, dropping his hands to his knees. She had the same fire that he and Kagome had acted on in their youth, but bottled up in a smaller form. Her new favorite phrase to use was 'it's law of the land!' having heard it from some of the village men when discussing planting for the season.

Kagome thought they should perhaps curb that phrase, but it amused Inuyasha too much for him to make an actual effort to stop her.

"Law of the land, huh?" Inuyasha stopped his snort, but he couldn't stop his smile. "Well then, can't argue with that."

His daughter nodded, planting her hands on her hips and standing proud. "Don't you forget, Daddy. You're my bestest friend."

Inuyasha responded, "You're my bestest friend too, baby girl."

She looked at him, beaming from his statement. Inuyasha opened his arms to give her a hug, which she gladly took and ran into his embrace, giggling from excitement. Inuyasha planted a kiss on the top of her head, right in between her black dog ears that marked her as her father's daughter. He cherished this moment with her, just as he did with every moment that he had with her.

Much like the conversation he had with Kagome years prior, when they were new to building their family and new to living together, it all felt like it barely scratched the surface of how he felt.

He could still vividly remember the first time he held her, so tiny and squirmy in his arms. She had cried and screamed for the first months so much that Inuyasha was convinced she already hated him. Kagome had soothed away his fears by assuring him that she was a baby, and that babies cried. She didn't hate him; she was a baby.

He could still remember the day she got her feet under her and ran. She was fast, faster than he had expected, and took off with an alarming speed before he caught her. He was scared, but her giggles and laughs eased his worried mind and he laughed with her.

She was the most precious thing in his life, and so much more than words could describe. When he had found out he was going to be a father, Miroku had warned him that it would change his world forever, and the two men loved to regale stories of their daughters' antics to each other.

Inuyasha stored this moment away in the back of his mind, wanting to tell Miroku about the law of the land that a father is his daughter's best friend. He was sure that Miroku would ask his own twins about this 'law of the land', and would most likely be told they liked their mother much more.

Inuyasha's daughter may be stubborn and unwavering in her stances on life, but Miroku's daughters had his mischievous streak that bested their father most days.

But for now, he would just live in the moment that his daughter loved him and he was her best friend.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Inuyasha picked up the large stone pot from the fire and moved it so Kaede could add the final touches to the soup. Kagome was bouncing their little boy on her knee, listening with great amusement to the story their daughter was weaving about her afternoon with the twins.

Kaede had invited the family over for dinner a few weeks prior, wanting to celebrate the birth of their healthy little boy. Kagome swore up and down that the second time around was so much easier than the first, but Inuyasha still thought the whole process was a lot for one person to endure.

But they had a child from it, so he couldn't fuss too much.

Their son was a much happier baby than their daughter had been. He didn't cry nearly as much, and was beginning to figure out how to smile much faster than his sister had, although it was still funny facial expressions and snorts.

Kaede had showered both of their children in affection as soon as they stepped into her home, feeling a great grandmotherly love for them.

As Inuyasha put the pot before Kaede, Kaede touched his arm and told him, "You're a great friend, Inuyasha. I am thankful to have you."

Inuyasha blinked a few times, trying to figure out the meaning of her statement.

Once again, he realized he had never really put much thought into his relationship with Kaede. It just was what it was.

But now that she had said something, he realized that she was his friend, just as much as the others.

"What? Are you getting mushy in your old age?" Inuyasha couldn't help himself from taking a light-hearted jab at her, but his smile was bigger than his bite as of late.

Fatherhood had mellowed him out quite a bit.

Kaede returned his smile, and tossed the last remaining ingredients into the boiling soup before stirring it to cool it down before serving. "Maybe I am," she responded to his jab, "or maybe you don't give yourself enough credit."

"She's right, Inuyasha," Kagome called from across the room, her daughter now preoccupied with entertaining her little brother who was screaming in glee at the attention.

Inuyasha looked over at her, questions dancing across his face.

Kagome answered those questions, "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're a great friend."

Inuyasha thought about what they were saying, and looked at his children. They were the light of his life, and more. He hoped they would always stay close to each other, and want for nothing.

He had never considered what he wanted most of his life. He had focused on survival, and given little else much thought.

Now that he was here, thinking about his life and what he wanted, he knew that there was only one thing he had ever wanted.

To have a friend and to be a friend.

Now, here he was, years later, surrounded by friends.

It was a great place to be.


	3. Haunt the Future

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha, _nor am I making profit from this story.

When Kagome first met Inuyasha, she was young and naïve to the ways of the world. She didn't understand the social barriers he faced on a daily basis and didn't understand the prejudice that he had spent his whole life living through.

She was shocked when she first met Sesshomaru and heard the hateful words he would hurl at his little brother.

The villagers spoke in whispers, but they didn't try to hide what they were doing as even Kagome's human ears could hear it. She knew Inuyasha heard it all, but rarely did he react.

This confused her because he was so hot headed when it came to virtually everything else that it was unsettling to her that he would remain silent when people mocked him.

"Why do they treat you that way?" Kagome asked Inuyasha, offering him a part of the root vegetables she was eating. They were sitting at the top of the hill, watching the village men plant the rice seedlings in near perfect rows.

Inuyasha's ears flicked over in her direction, so Kagome knew he had heard her. He slowed his chewing, carefully considering his next words. Kagome was still a very strange girl to him. She didn't seem to understand how the world worked, and seemed so oblivious to everything around her. While he found a great amount of solace in her company because of this, he also feared that one day she would snap to her senses and leave him.

Her rejection was something he wasn't sure he could handle.

Kagome's questioning eyes bore into the side of his face. He had half-way thought of ignoring her and hoping she would drop the subject, but prior experiences told him that she was stubborn and wouldn't let it up.

Kagome felt her heart work its way up into her throat the longer he remained silent. She wasn't stupid; she knew that the answer to the questions might be complicated and difficult for him to discuss with her. He might be insulted or hurt that she had to ask him why he was treated the way he was; clearly it wasn't fair or okay, but she couldn't figure it out.

She had hoped that feeding him might put him in a better mood to have this conversation with her, but now she was certain she had ruined their tense and budding relationship beyond repair.

She was just about to apologize and tell him to forget what she said when he spoke, his voice low.

"Because I'm not human, so I can't live in a village with the other humans, but I'm not demon either, so I can't just go join up with them. I don't belong anywhere and I'm not wanted anywhere. My life is an insult to theirs."

His reply startled her for two reasons. One, she wasn't expecting one after the tense silence, and two, what he said was appauling to her. Kagome considered his words carefully, and tried to form a coherent thought. Inuyasha had spoken with such certainty that she worried he might also believe what he said – it wasn't just the villagers who viewed him in poor light. Inuyasha believed it just as much as anyone else.

Kagome blinked back tears, took a deep breath, and touched Inuyasha's arm. "I want you here, Inuyasha. You belong with me."

She wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say, but she wanted him to know that she cared about him.

Inuyasha stared straight ahead for a moment, before turning and looking at her. The light of the afternoon sun danced in his eyes, making the gold in them seem molten. Kagome felt herself blush and she pulled her hand away to work on the radish she was eating before her question. She turned her head down to try to hide her colored face, but she had a feeling he could see it regardless.

Inuyasha watched her carefully, trying to memorize this moment, where he was wanted and belonged. He couldn't remember the last time he felt those things, and he wanted to be able to have this moment in his mind forever.

He burned the image of her, rosy cheeks and messy hair eating a bright radish on a green hillside, into his mind.

Inuyasha wanted to remember what it felt like to have her in his life for when she inevitably left him.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Miroku learned quickly that when Kagome was around, Inuyasha was happiest. Sure, Inuyasha poked and prodded at her, sometimes to start a fight, sometimes just to get a little bit of attention.

Kagome didn't seem to notice that Inuyasha and Shippo were perpetual battling for her attention and affection.

Miroku wasn't sure that Inuyasha even knew what he was doing.

With the monk in their group, it was much easier to be able to get a roof over their heads for the night. Kagome always told Miroku how grateful she was for his help and smiled brightly at him, excited to be able to escape the outdoors for a night. Miroku never missed how Inuyasha's eyes would darken at Kagome's thanks to him, and how he would turn away.

It was difficult to get Inuyasha to open up in any capacity. Kagome seemed to have an ability to do it, but Miroku had questions for his half-demon companion that needed to be asked without Kagome present. This presented challenges of its own because Inuyasha was not easy to find if Kagome wasn't around.

With Sango's presence, it was much easier for Miroku to get to know Inuyasha. The girls were able to get a room of their own, leaving Inuyasha and Miroku alone with only conversation to keep them preoccupied.

At first, Inuyasha would flee from any conversation that Miroku tried to initiate with him. While this tactic might have worked for just about any other human, Miroku was anything but deterred.

"You and Kagome have known each other for a while, Inuyasha." Miroku had waited until Inuyasha had settled by the wall with the Tessaiga in his lap for the night before speaking.

Inuyasha's face quickly turned from a relaxed frown to glowering at the monk lounging on the futon in the middle of the room. But he didn't get up to leave, so Miroku took this as a good sign.

Miroku continued, turning to lay on his side and prop his head up on his hand, "You two must be very close."

Inuyasha grunted. Miroku held back a smile at realizing that there was a chance for getting information from his friend.

It was too early to be too excited.

"When will you ask her to marry you?"

Inuyasha's face turned from glowering to an unreadable expression. His eyes turned down into his lap as he flexed his hand, inspecting the claws on it for a brief moment. His shoulders turned inwards and his body went from relaxed and spread out to tense and small. He didn't grunt in response; he didn't respond at all.

Miroku got the answer he had been worried about. "She thinks nothing of her bloodline, friend."

Inuyasha's ears lowered into his hair, worrying Miroku that this conversation was being shut down. Miroku was about to try to assure him that Kagome was very fond of him, when Inuyasha spoke.

"That's the problem. She doesn't think anything of it, but she faces the repercussions everyday just from being around me. I was never able to get her a house to stay in when it was cold at night. I can't provide for her the way a man should." Inuyasha's fist close tightly, and Miroku wondered if he had punctured his skin.

Miroku stood and sat next to his friend, offering comfort in a familiar presence. "We both know those aren't things Kagome's worried about."

Miroku watched his friend's emotions play out across his face. "Inuyasha, Kagome would want nothing else besides to be with you. Anyone who would treat you two poorly because of your heritage is not someone she would want in her life."

Inuyasha's face began to relax, but he still remained turned inwards and small. Miroku swallowed hard, before offering his final piece of advice. "I know I'm not one to say this, but you can't let the ghosts of your past haunt your present and destroy your future. Live a little, Inuyasha, and take the happiness she offers you."

Inuyasha looked over at Miroku, his eyes much softer and lighter again. He let out a soft scoff, but Miroku knew there was anger behind it.

He hoped he had helped, but he also knew that the pain of the past was not easily forgotten.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Holding the soft and squirmy bundle in his arms terrified Inuyasha as much as it brought him joy. The little face staring back up at him was skewed into a frown and the little nose that was wet like his own, wiggled as it tried to figure out the world. While someone who wasn't looking might not see the ears carefully perched on the top of the dark head, he could.

He wondered if his mother had felt this when she held him for the first time.

There were so many emotions swirling around his mind that he couldn't figure out what he was feeling. Kagome was sleeping, one hand on his knee and the other tucked under her head. She had been in labor for nearly a day and a half before his daughter had finally entered the world. He couldn't image how tired his wife must be, so he let her rest.

He tried to ignore the questions that bubbled to the surface and the voice in his head that told him his was horribly selfish – why did he think he deserved to be a father? Why did he bring a child into this world only to know what kind of pain they would face from being his child?

How dare he be happy holding her, happy she looked like him, happy she was healthy, when he knew what kind of life was ahead of her?

But he was just so happy to have her. He hoped he would be enough for her.

But the terrible little voices that reminded him again and again that what he was doing was wrong - he was wrong - chased away the joy he felt and replaced it with sorrowful anguish.

He stared at this little bundle in his arms and felt insurmountable guilt overcome him.

What had he done?

He started to cry, and since the only witness to his tears had her eyes closed and was too little to understand who he was to her, he let them fall and made no move to wipe them away.

The one thing that he didn't take into consideration was that she was his daughter and would be able to smell the tears.

A single drop landed on her cheek, and before her father could wipe it away, she opened her eyes, bright blue in true newborn fashion and looking around in confusion, and began to whine.

Kagome, her motherly instinct being strong, stirred at the sounds of her baby's whines. She opened her eyes to make sure that Inuyasha was handling the baby, but her husband's tears instead. Sitting up gingerly, Kagome asked, "Inuyasha? What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, Inuyasha took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He couldn't find his voice to answer his wife, so he lifted his daughter up to the crook of his neck and rubbed her little back. He began to rock slightly, trying to soothe her.

Or was he trying to soothe himself?

Kagome opened her arms and pulled on Inuyasha's shoulder to get him to move closer to him. He complied and accepted her embrace and comfort.

"Tell me what's wrong, Inuyasha." Kagome rubbed his shoulders and upper back, kissing the side of his face softly.

Inuyasha gasped out his response. "I've been horribly selfish, Kagome. What have I done?"

Kagome paused her motions, pulling her head away and looked at him. Inuyasha kept his eyes downturned; he wasn't sure he could handle what her eyes would tell him.

"What do you mean? How have you been selfish?"

Inuyasha closed his eyes and breathed in his daughter's smell. "I know what kind of life she will have, and yet I still had her." He started to cry again, but this time Kagome was there to wipe them away. "My very presence brings pain, and I inflict it on you and now our daughter."

He finally met Kagome's gaze. "How could I have done this to you?"

Kagome's eyebrows were low on her forehead, and he could tell she was starting to cry as well. It fueled his guilt even more, but she leaned in and kissed him tenderly before speaking.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Inuyasha. You have given me so much joy, and you loved me so much that you made a baby with me. How is that being selfish?" Kagome kissed his forehead. "She's going to have the best life, because she has the best father."

Inuyasha let out a loud, gasping sob. He wanted to protest, but he wanted to believe her words. All he wanted to believe that he had done the right thing, and that he wasn't selfish.

He wanted to believe he was loved and his daughter would be too.

"I don't want her to hurt. I don't want her to be alone. I don't want her to go through what I went through."

Kagome held him close, her hand clenching his fire rat robe tightly. She tried to tell him silently that it was going to be okay. But she knew he would need to hear it to believe it.

"I love you so much, Inuyasha," Kagome spoke, but her voice was thick with emotion. "You are the most caring person I know, and the fact that you are worried about her tells me that you're going to do right by her." Kagome's body rocked the three of them softly. "She's never going to go through what you did because you're going to be there to keep her safe and loved. She's never going to be alone because she will always have us. Sometimes, she's going to be hurt because that's part of life, but we'll be there to wipe her tears and heal her heart."

Inuyasha felt himself calm down with his wife presence and words. He thought back to the night when Miroku had also forced him to confront the ghosts of his past. He remembered what his friend had told him.

Feeling the small body of his little girl in his embrace and the warmth of his wife, he promised himself that he wouldn't let his past haunt their future.

They deserved that much.


	4. Affection Learned

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_, nor am I making profit from this story.

If he took the time to remember, Inuyasha could still feel the warmth of his mother's embrace holding him close through cold nights and soothing his tears and fears. When he was young and first all on his own, he used to spend hours closing his eyes and trying to feel her close to him.

As he grew, it became painful to think about when he had his mother's love and affection. It only reminded him of the absence of affection he faced now.

When Kagome came through the well, bold and unapologetic in her ways and open in her love, Inuyasha began to think more and more about his mother. Kikyou was a modest woman by nature, biding by social and cultural norms when it came to expressing affection, but Kagome was much more like his mother.

She would hold his hand, gave him a hug here and there, opening herself up to him and hoping for him to open up in return.

Inuyasha knew, having spent as much time with Kagome's family as he had, that she had learned it from her mother and grandfather. Grandpa patted Inuyasha's back when he walked past, Mama Higurashi gave Inuyasha a hug when he walked through the door, and Souta would lean against him when they watched movies together.

All things that Kagome did frequently and not thinking about it.

He wondered what he would have learned from his mother if she had lived longer.

Inuyasha watched as Sango and Miroku became more open with their affections over time. Sometimes he would see them coyly holding hands when they thought no one was looking. Miroku was quick to offer a hand to Sango when she was getting up, and always asked her if she was cold before he rested for the night. Kagome was gleeful in watching their budding love evolve more, often clinging to Inuyasha in excitement while asking him if he saw what she did.

At first, he didn't, but eventually, after Kagome pointed it out time and time again, Inuyasha started to see it on his own. He started to learn how to see affection expressed from her.

This realization and recognition of his friends' affection for one another brought back memories he hadn't thought about for years. He remembered the way his mother would kiss the top of his head and tell him how proud she was of him, how much he looked like his father, and how much she loved him.

He used to dream of going back to when he had her in his life, and, upon waking in the morning, he would feel a certain emptiness that he hated more than he craved temporary relief. So, he stopped thinking and refused to remember.

But, with Kagome's presence in his life, he found himself dreaming of his mother again. This time, the emptiness didn't arrive with the sun, and he was able to remember in peace.

Sometimes, he dreamed of Kagome too. He would dream of talking with her about something small and insignificant, and she would reach for his hand. He would feel his whole heart light up with joy at the small touch. When he dreamed of her, he never felt the bitter return of loneliness for she was there in the morning to smile up at him.

She was always within reach to him.

When the well closed, Kagome on the other side with her family and safe from the horrors and demons of the feudal era, dreaming of his mother, and now Kagome, brought horrible aches come the morning.

So, he did he what done before – he refused to remember.

He avoided any and every question about Kagome, the same way he had avoided any mention or comment about his mother for years.

He didn't anticipate how difficult it would be to do so, however, with other people who knew and loved the person he was trying to pretend he never had.

Miroku would sometimes bring up a small story about Kagome, or their adventures together. Sango said they should name one of their daughters after Kagome. Shippo cherished his art supplies from Kagome and would use them sparingly. It was hard to avoid conversation about the person he missed the most around his friends, and soon he was isolated and even more alone, all from trying to forget the affectionate person from the future that he so desperately missed.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Inuyasha learned very quickly that children were much more open about their feelings and wants in life than any adult he had ever met. The girls, eyes wide and glimmering in sheer, unbridled excitement, had absolutely no issue climbing on him, and ignored his every attempt to minimize their contact with him.

He remembered the time that Miroku had burst into the forest, shouting for Inuyasha and his twins. Inuyasha had jumped down from his perch quickly and gone to his friend's side.

"Have you seen them?"

Inuyasha shook his head no. Miroku's face twisted into an expression of absolute fear. "Where could they be?"

Inuyasha took off, using his nose to look for the twin girls. They were still rather scrawny, going through their first big growth spurt. They couldn't have gone too far. Their legs were so short and they had just started to figure out walking.

Miroku did his best to keep up, but it was Inuyasha who arrived at their location. They were clinging to each other, crying softly and rasping out cries for help beside the bank of the river running just past the village. They were quivering, and their feet were red and raw from walking without their shoes on.

Inuyasha called to them, causing them to turn their heads sharply in his direction. He walked slowly towards them, arms crossed, trying to hide the relief he felt from finding them.

When they saw their red clad uncle walking towards them, asking them what they were doing, they quickly disentangled from each other and took off running towards him. Inuyasha wasn't prepared for the little bodies that slammed into his legs at full force.

He stumbled and fell into a seated position. The girls didn't take any sort of notice of his tense body or that he had frozen with his arms crossed over his chest still.

Finding powerful and unbreakable purchase on his clothing, the girls pulled at his sleeves until his arms moved to open up and they could cling to his chest and cry in the comfort of his embrace. Inuyasha was confused and startled by their behavior. He gingerly patted their backs, and looked around for Miroku.

Miroku watched the scene from a slight distance, taking in a breath to calm down now that his daughters had been found. He offered a slight smile to Inuyasha when they locked eyes.

Miroku could see the confusion in his friend's eyes, but he also knew that his girls were finding their comfort in their favorite uncle. After a little while, once the sobs and cries had died down, Miroku approached, and took one of the children from Inuyasha's arms.

"Let's go home. Mama's worried about you two." Miroku nodded to indicate to Inuyasha that he should follow suit. Inuyasha mimicked his friend's motion of patting the toddler he was holding softly on the back with the one in his arms.

Sango, pale from worry and stress, burst into tears when she saw her husband and friend carrying her girls home. She ran to embrace all four of them best as she could, kissing and squeezing them to assure her that they were all right and intact.

"Thank you," she whispered to Inuyasha, kissing his cheek and pulling him close. "Thank you for finding them."

Inuyasha was stiff from shock over the affection he was receiving from Sango, but the woman didn't notice and moved to kiss her husband and hold her daughters.

As they moved into the house, the twins cried when Inuyasha didn't follow suit. Hoping to be able to stop them from being so upset, Inuyasha went inside with the family. He sat on the floor, and the twins climbed up into his lap, resting on his chest before promptly falling asleep from the stress of the day.

Inuyasha tried to move them to the futon Sango had laid out, but they would squirm and whine, beginning to wake up if he tried to separate himself from them.

"Just lie down with them, Inuyasha." Sango's voice was soft and cloudy, still thick with emotion. "They want you close right now."

Miroku nodded, taking in a long drink of his tea. "It's okay. Just lay with them for a while."

Inuyasha did as he was asked, resting his back on the futon, both girls sliding down to nestle into his side. Their small hands were fisted into his fire rat robe, but their faces were relaxed.

None of the adults got any rest that night, each watching the fire until its last embers and the morning light. But the warmth of love of friends was all that was needed.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Inuyasha should have known from his experiences with the twins that at the ripe age of two, his daughter was going to have no problem expressing her affection as she saw fit.

He should have also have known that she was going to invade his privacy as a way to tell him she loved him because she was Kagome's daughter.

Yet, here he was, often taken by surprise by her actions.

"What doing?"

Inuyasha paused in the doorway of the house at the sound the of the little voice asking him a near perfect question. "Going to the bathroom, baby."

"Why?"

Inuyasha turned and looked over his shoulder. Her hair was sticking which way and that, her eyes still puffy from sleep. He was hoping to have snuck out before she woke up, but she must have felt him leave the bed. "Because I've got to go to the bathroom."

His daughter teetered over and grabbed his hand. "I go."

"Oh," Inuyasha squeezed her hand slightly. "You've got to go? Okay."

"No."

Inuyasha paused for a moment. Sometimes communicating with his daughter was a minefield, and he had a feeling that he might need to summon Kagome to sort this one out. He really had to go and didn't have much time.

"No?" he asked the sleepyhead at his knee.

His daughter slowly stepped down and, still holding his hand, began to walk outside. Inuyasha followed her lead to their outhouse. Together, they climbed inside, and Inuyasha figured she must have to go.

But instead his daughter motioned for him to use the toilet. "It s'okay," she told him, her voice low. "I here, Daddy."

"Oh," Inuyasha scrambled to know what to say. "I can go by myself, baby girl. That's okay."

His daughter assuredly patted his hand, ignoring his comment.

Inuyasha realized he was in a bit of a tight spot then. His daughter had started copying him and Kagome every day, but this was very unexpected. She was learning how to express her affection from them, but she was also picking up the strangest things. He realized he should have called Kagome for back up, but that it was too late and he was in far too deep to have an easy out.

Realizing he had little options, Inuyasha pointed to the door. "Do you want to wait for me outside? It's to small in here for both of us."

"M'kay. But I be out. Let know if want help." His daughter left her final comment hanging in the room with her father as she stepped out. Pressing her face between the door and door frame, she whispered to him, "Shout if help."

Inuyasha nodded, and once the door was shut and he could hear his little girl scratching around the dirt on the side of the outhouse, he looked upwards and took a deep breath. He resigned himself to having to relieve himself quickly to get her back inside fast.

Just as he was about to finish, he heard Kagome ask his daughter what she was doing.

"I help Daddy potty, Mama."

"Oh, is that so?" Kagome's voice broke at the end of her sentence as she laughed in response.

"I love Daddy, Mama! I help Daddy potty!" Inuyasha could just see his daughter standing with her hands on her hips telling her mother off for laughing.

"Okay, then, baby. Should Mama help too?"

Inuyasha called to his wife, whom he just knew would never let him live this down, "I don't need your help, Kagome. Our daughter's help is more than enough."

Stepping out, he was greeted with Kagome's mischievous smile and an expectant smile of his little girl. Both of them hand their hands on their hips, and they looked like so much alike it made him smile a little.

Then Kagome spoke and he was instantly annoyed. "Daddy's got to wash his hands now. Will you help him?"

"Okay!" His daughter quickly moved into action and brought him clean his hands. He tried to tell her that he could wash his hands on his own, he didn't need her to scrub them for him, but he was shushed by his daughter and told, "No Daddy. I help."

Inuyasha could feel Kagome's mirthful stare and he tossed her a look over his shoulder. She didn't seem to be phased by this; if anything, she was encouraged because she finally openly laughed. Inuyasha started to laugh when his daughter used her sleeves to dry his hands, much like what he had done for her a million times before.

As they walked back into their home, his daughter patted his bottom, most likely aiming for his back but not being tall enough to reach it, and earnestly told him, "Good job, Daddy."

Kagome howled in amusement, having to take a moment to bend over to catch her breath and Inuyasha thanked his daughter and tried to not laugh himself. Rubbing the top of her head, he silently thanked whomever gave him her, and made her loving like her mother.

He was grateful for all that he had learned and all that she was learning.


	5. Jealous Streak

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_, nor am I making profit from this story.

Inuyasha had mellowed out, that was one of the first things Kagome noticed when she returned from the future. He was a much calmer, more collected person than he had been when she first met him. In hindsight, Kagome realized that that change had started while they were searching for the jewel shards; she hadn't noticed since she had been there with him every day.

Kagome watched as he played with Sango and Miroku's girls with patience she wouldn't have ever have thought possible. He let them climb all over him, and even had a pretend dinner with them that consisted of sticks and mud, taking a moment to compliment their cooking skills.

Sango, when the girls were fighting, had placed her new born son into Inuyasha's arms to have hers free to break up the squabble.

Inuyasha took the babe with no fuss, tucking the child into his chest and waited for Sango to take him back.

It would be an absolute lie to say Kagome wasn't conflicted about the change in Inuyasha. She was pleased to see how much he had matured, but she was sad to know she hadn't been there to change with him.

Kagome was taking time to learn the ins and outs of Inuyasha's new, much mellower personality when Koga arrived in the village, causing Inuyasha's jealous streak to rear its head.

Kagome was gathering some herbs for Kaede to dry for the approaching winter months when Koga appeared before her. While not going nearly as fast as he had been able to with the shards in his leg, Koga's arrival still took Kagome by partial surprise because she hadn't been able to figure out where she knew the aura from before he arrived.

"Kagome!" the tall tanned man stood in front of her with his arms wide open, moving swiftly to embrace her. "You've come back!"

Kagome stood, ready to side step the unwanted affection, when a large red blur obscured the wolf demon from her vision.

Inuyasha stood in front of her, the energy radiating off of him the first sign Kagome had felt of the boy she knew all those years ago. He was quivering with anger, but Kagome knew what it stemmed from.

He was jealous.

Inuyasha slapped Koga's arms downwards and snarled at the other man. "What are you doing here, ugly? Don't you have somewhere else to stink up?"

While Kagome was also wondering why exactly Koga had come to Kaede's village – never had he traveled this way before – she was not thrilled with how Inuyasha asked the question.

"Inuyasha, be nice." She moved to stand beside the red clad man. "Hi Koga, it's nice to see you again."

Inuyasha let out a loud snort and growled at Kagome, "You don't have to be nice to him, you know."

Kagome ignored his outburst and continued to speak to Koga. "How have you been?"

Koga, still completely undeterred by Inuyasha's growls and snaps as he ever was, moved to embrace Kagome again. Kagome stepped back and slightly behind Inuyasha to give non-verbal clues that she was not interested in his affection.

While he didn't encroach any further than where he was, he didn't seem even phased by Kagome's movement.

"So much better now that you're back!" he exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest and puffing it out while flexing his muscles. "And you are as beautiful as I remember! If not even more!"

Inuyasha let out a loud groan and slung his arm around Kagome's shoulder. "Now that you know she's back, why don't you go ahead and leave?"

Kagome halfway thought about telling Inuyasha to be less rude, but she was a little pleased to learn he still could be a little jealous. It was like having a little glimpse at the boy she once knew.

Koga didn't acknowledge Inuyasha's comment. "I've built a wonderful home on the base of the mountain. This spring, we had several pups born. I know you'll love them! If we leave now, we'll be able to make it back by night fall!"

Kagome blinked.

Wait. What?

Inuyasha's growls began to grow exponentially in volume as he also realized what Koga was insinuating. His hand that had been previously draped over her shoulder, now gripped it hard and he started to move her directly behind him.

Kagome, however, stood her ground and didn't move. She knew that if she did a fight would break out and she didn't want to deal with that.

"I'm sure the pups are wonderful, Koga, but I'm staying here. This is my home now." Kagome's voice was stern and cut quickly through the air.

Koga's tail fell dramatically, and his body when from held high in pride, to slouched in confusion. Inuyasha's hand released its grip and he looked over at Kagome, confused as well.

Kagome wanted to roll her eyes at them, but she knew that would start a different kind of fight.

Wrapping her arm around Inuyasha's middle, Kagome leaned into him and waited for Koga's response. Koga carefully watched the interaction between them, dissecting the information being presented to him.

It was a long tense silence that followed, and it didn't help that Inuyasha was just as confused and bewildered as Koga by Kagome's behavior.

But she had made it clear what her choice was, and the boys were just going to have to figure it out.

It was Inuyasha who broke the silence, letting out a loud, "Take that!" to Koga.

This time, Kagome did roll her eyes.

Koga bristled and turned his attention away from Kagome, now tucked into Inuyasha's side as he took advantage of her proximity to pull her as close as he could. Inuyasha was standing with his chest puffed and proud, looking much like Koga had moments before, his eyes mocking the wolf demon before him.

Kagome, still wanting to curb any squabble that might break out, spoke before Koga could. "Maybe one day I'll be able to meet the pups and see your new home, but for right now, I'd like to stay here." She gave him a soft smile, tilting her head to rest on Inuyasha's side. "I just got back and I'm still getting settled."

Koga's body slouched again, the fight response from Inuyasha's earlier remark extinguished by Kagome's comment.

"Alright then," Koga agreed. "Maybe one day."

He turned on his heels and was quickly gone from their sight.

Left in the dust cloud of Koga's departure, Inuyasha looked down at Kagome, who was giving him a Cheshire cat smile, her eyes twinkling with glee.

"Were you jealous?" She reached her free hand up and tapped him on the end of the nose. "Were you a jealous man, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha let out a loud scoff and twisted to get away from her, untangling his arm from her shoulder. "No!" he shouted. "I'm not jealous!"

Kagome tailed closely behind him, tucking her hands behind her back and leaning forward to tease Inuyasha. "Yes, you were." Kagome wrapped her arms around one of his and pulled into her chest. "You were jealous."

Inuyasha snorted, but he didn't pull his arm away from Kagome's grasp. He slowed his walk so they could walk amicably together to the village. He rested his other hand on her arms, the warmth of his affection seeping through her clothes into her skin.

Kagome rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the peace and comfort of being with Inuyasha, but still elated that there is a little bit of a familiar jealous streak in him.


	6. Different Path

Disclaimer: I do not own _Inuyasha_, nor am I making profit from this story.

Inuyasha walked slowly up the towering steps toward the shrine that sat on top of the hill. At the top was a beautiful shrine maiden sweeping away the leaves and collective dirt that had gathered in the crevices of the stone pathway.

As he approached, she turned to greet her visitor and welcome him. Her long raven hair was pulled back loosely with a white tie, and she emitted a calm aura.

"Welcome," she called to him, her smile soft and reaching her eyes. "Thank you for your visit today."

Inuyasha grunted and looked around. His college roommate, Miroku, had told him that if he came to this shrine, he might find the answers he was looking for. Inuyasha had initially scoffed at the idea, but his suggestion had worn enough on the half-demon's mind that he decided to go.

No harm in checking it out.

The shrine grounds were beautiful, that he had to admit. The large tree just to the side, and the little structures around the perimeter were well maintained and clean. The soft sunlight illuminated the area in an ethereal way, making him feel like he had left the business of Tokyo far behind.

Kagome watched as the man before her went from visibly tense to relaxed. His shoulders moved from being hiked high up by his ears to down in a relaxed position. She heard him start to take deeper breaths and the lines around his eyes and mouth dropped from sight and he blinked slowly.

She took the time to take in his appearance. He was dressed his loose-fitting pants and a larger bomber jacket. On his head was a baseball cap, silver hair pulled draped around his shoulders and down his back. His hands were tucked into his pocket, and the sandals were an interesting choice for this time of year. It would begin to frost at night soon, and she had pulled out her tabi socks weeks ago in response to the changing weather.

While he kept it well hidden physically, Kagome knew immediately that he had demon blood coursing through his veins.

She kept her voice quiet when she spoke to him again, "Please feel free to walk around. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me."

Inuyasha was snapped back to reality at the sound of her voice.

"Oh, right." Inuyasha nodded in her direction. "Thanks."

Miroku had warned Inuyasha that this was a centuries old shrine that had been run by the family for generations. The history of the place was ingrained deep into the ground it stood on, as well as the blood of the people who supported it. The woman at the front seemed harmless on the outside, but Inuyasha could tell right away that she held great spiritual powers.

He walked slowly around the grounds, admiring the centuries old structures and their condition. He had seen things like this growing up in his mother's compound, but he never imagined he would find such things in the middle of Tokyo, tuck away on the top of a hill.

He could see the scraping and ridges made by the craftsmen so many years ago still imbedded deep into the wood, and the carvings had been carefully repaired when parts had fallen off.

The place was by no means elaborate, but it was loved. That much was visible.

Inuyasha walked close to see the insides of each building. He was slow and silent in his walk, causing him to startle an older man who was dusting and organizing some pottery in one of the sheds.

Inuyasha stepped back at the sound of his startled yelp, apologizing silently with a bow to the hunched over man and backing out of the shed.

However, the elder called to him.

"You look like a strong young man. Come here." The older man waved his hands at Inuyasha, beckoning him to come back. Inuyasha looked around, trying to assess if the man was really talking to him. Seeing no one else, Inuyasha pointed at himself and said, "Who? Me?"

"Yes, you. I need this vase moved forward." The older man patted the large decorated vase in front of him. "I need to clean the back."

Inuyasha slowly moved forward and stood next to the man. "Uh," he muttered, at a loss for words, "okay."

"Just scoot it forward a little bit. Not too too much."

Inuyasha did as he was told, carefully wiggling the large vase forward until the man told him it was enough. Not knowing what to do while the man cleaned the backside of the stored vase, Inuyasha looked around the shed. It was filled to the brim with pottery of all sizes, some small, some with visible fixed fractures, and scrolls, some hanging, their colors and calligraphy bright in color still, but most were rolled and tucked away.

The one that was hanging delicately on the very back wall of the shed caught his eye.

There was a woman on it, dressed in armor, battling the demons who had caught her in their grip. The colors of the scroll were dull, partially covered in dust, but the power and beauty of the image still shone through. Unconsciously, Inuyasha walked towards the scroll, as if pulled by some unknown force.

The old man noticed and began to speak to Inuyasha.

"Ah," he said, not moving from cleaning the backside of the vase furiously, "I see you've noticed Midoriko's final moments."

Inuyasha was once again pulled back to his surroundings. "What?"

"Midoriko's final moments. She battled a great hoard of demons before she was finally killed. She was one of our greatest ancestors. She was well known in her time for her strength and power." Grandpa, having finished wiping and polishing the vase, stood, bones cracking, to join Inuyasha by the scroll.

"Her final resting place has been lost to history, but her sacrifice has not."

Inuyasha nodded, looking back at the scene before him.

"Have you come looking for the Shikon no Tama?"

That was the last thing Inuyasha was expecting to hear. He heard his neck crack loudly in protest of how fast he turned it to look at the old man.

"What did you just say?"

"You're a half demon, so I'm sure you've heard the tales of the Shikon no Tama being able to grant wishes. Have you come in search of it?"

"Do you have it?" Inuyasha whispered, his disbelief taking over every other emotion he was feeling.

The old man blew air, disturbing the dust on the scroll and revealing more of the color underneath. "No."

Inuyasha paused for a moment, confused. "You don't have it?"

"No."

"Why did you bring it up?"

"Because we are Midoriko's descendants, and her sacrifice is what brought it into the world. You must have come here looking for it."

Inuyasha thought for a moment. While it was true, he was looking for the Shikon no Tama, he had no idea that this shrine was run by people who knew about it. That must have been why Miroku told him to come to this place. Suddenly feeling ashamed for reasons that he didn't really understand, Inuyasha looked away and stared at the ground.

The old man next to him took his silence as an affirmation that the young man visiting them was indeed looking for the Shikon no Tama.

"Do you know the story of the Shikon no Tama? Of how it came to be?"

Inuyasha softly shook his head. The old man next to him began to tell the story of Midoriko's final fight, and of the heart of the man who desired her. Inuyasha listened carefully to the story of the birth of the jewel, his mind reeling while trying to take it all in. He stared at the painted scroll in front of him, seeing the human face at the very bottom of the demon hoard and the hole where Midoriko's heart should have been.

The old man was long winded, weaving a tale full of details and imagery, and as Inuyasha listened, he felt himself feeling as if he were there, watching the fight happen and feeling the desperation and rage that consumed the fighters.

He was so caught up in the story that the old man was telling that he didn't hear the woman from the front enter the shed.

"Grandpa," she called out, her voice piercing and disrupting the room, "are you bothering our visitor?"

Inuyasha turned on his heel and faced the priestess. The old man moved much slower, but he also turned around.

Grandpa answered her question, full of indignation, "No. He wanted to know the story."

The woman raised an eyebrow at the old man, her grandfather Inuyasha presumed. "Is that so?"

"Yes, he's looking for the Shikon no Tama."

The woman walked forward and stood close to them. "Did you tell him that while it does grant a wish, it brings nothing but sorrow when it does. The beholder must ask for the perfect wish or they will suffer greatly for it?"

Inuyasha was surprised at this. The perfect wish?

"I was getting to that part."

"I hope you told him we don't have it."

Inuyasha spoke this time, defending the old man. "He did. He was just telling me the story of the scroll."

The woman looked over their shoulders at the painting. Her face fell slightly as she looked at it. "Ah," she spoke slowly. "That's why this all came up."

The old man moved back to the vase, grunting a slight acknowledgement to the woman and waving at Inuyasha to help him move the vase back.

The woman moved closer to the scroll, lost in its imagery, paying no attention to Inuyasha and her grandfather moving the pottery back into its place.

This did not go unnoticed by Inuyasha, and he wondered why the woman seemed so enraptured by the painting. Certainly she had seen it a thousand times before?

Inuyasha put the vase back and watched as the old man left them in the shed alone. The woman didn't seem to notice that they had been abandoned by the old man, who had left with some comment about going inside.

Inuyasha wanted to ask her what she was thinking, but he found himself too shy to be able to speak up.

Fortunately, she did for him.

"Why do you want the Shikon no Tama?"

Inuyasha's eyes moved from looking around the room to resting on her form. She was still facing the scroll, so all he could look at was her back.

Before he could answer, she asked another question. "Is it because you are a half demon?"

Inuyasha stiffened at the comment. She had also noticed.

Scoffing loudly, as was his defense mechanism when he was caught off guard, Inuyasha rebuked, "So what if it is?"

Finally, the woman turned to face him. "You believe that the jewel can make you a full-blooded demon."

Inuyasha crossed his arms and rolled his shoulders in reply to her.

"The jewel will not give you what you desire. It will take away your humanity as its price, and leave you mindless and unable to control yourself if you ask it to make you a full-blooded demon."

Inuyasha clenched his jaw at her statement. It felt like an accusation to him. "So what if it does?"

The woman walked to be closer to him, her arms loose at her sides and her face unreadable. "You would sacrifice your humanity, the gift given to you by your human parent, just to escape the clutches of the judgement you face every day?"

"Look lady, you don't know me-"

"No, I don't. But I know that the cost of gaining what you think you desire is too high."

Inuyasha didn't have a retort to her. Her face was calm and soft, portraying no indication as to what she was feeling. He tried to read her, but he couldn't.

She moved to walk past him, offering only one more comment. "We don't have the jewel, but maybe we have what you are looking for."

Inuyasha twisted his body to watch her walk out. "And what does that mean?" he shouted after her.

She paused for a moment, before looking over her shoulder at him. "What you are looking for is to belong. That is why you so desire the jewel and the temptation of what it offers. You are not the first in history to do what you are seeking.

"Others before you have been lost and never recovered from following the path you are walking. Perhaps, we can offer you a different path to walk."

Inuyasha felt rage bubble to the surface. What did she know of him and what he was looking for? He shouted at her, storming to be closer to her face, "What the hell does that mean?"

The woman didn't seem even remotely intimated by his behavior, which took Inuyasha by surprise. Instead, she offered her hand to him.

"My name is Kagome Higurashi. Would you like to come in for dinner?"

Her response startled him, but he took her hand and shook it slowly, forgetting his anger and his confusion at her statements earlier. "Inuyasha," he introduced himself.

Kagome smiled and patted his hand with her other one, capturing his hand in a friendly way. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you, I guess." Inuyasha stared at the way she held his hand in both of hers. No one had been so easy going in his presence before.

Kagome released his hands and stepped outside the shed, holding her arm out to tell him to join her. "We're having oden for dinner. Please join us."

While Inuyasha didn't verbally respond to her statement, he nodded his agreement. As he stepped outside of the shed and followed Kagome into their large home, he also started walking a different path.


	7. Give It Time

Disclaimer: I don't own _Inuyasha_, nor am I making profit from this story.

"Why are you so annoying?" Inuyasha snarled down at the girl who was standing at the base of his tree, viciously smacking it with all her might and yelling up at him.

She shot him a glare, before growling back, "I'm annoying?! I'm not the one avoiding all conversations and causing trouble. I heard what you did to that man! I hear about all about it!"

Inuyasha looked away from her, ignoring the vibrations that rippled through the tree from her pounding on the base. Maybe if he ignored her long enough, she would go away.

But she continued to yell up at him.

"Inuyasha! You are such a jerk! Why did you toss that man in to the river?! What is wrong with you? Kaede might have thought it was okay, but it wasn't!" She stepped back from the tree to be able to shout up at him better, her hands on her hips and her posture showing that she was not going to back down anytime soon.

"Are you listening to me?!"

Inuyasha's ears betrayed him, twisting slightly to inform her that he had heard her. Although he kept his face pointed away and wouldn't look at her for any reason, Kagome knew she had his attention.

Pointing her finger up at him, Kagome continued her tirade. "You cannot just go around throwing people into the river! Especially if they don't know how to swim! Doing that will make people think you are mean!"

Inuyasha shifted slightly and snorted loudly. "I do what I want!"

"Inuyasha!"

Finally, he looked at her. "There was a boat there! I just scared him. I didn't try to kill him!"

"Why were you trying to scare him?!"

"He made me mad!"

Kagome dropped her hand to her sides, fists tightly clenched. "Just because you're mad doesn't mean you try to scare someone!"

Kaede made her way up the hill, listening to the shouting match between the teenagers. Inuyasha was not being very forthcoming with the true reasons he had pitched a man into the river earlier that day, and Kaede knew that it was sheer stubbornness that kept them both going. Shippo had informed her of the fight that had broken out, before scampering off to play with the village children.

She watched for a little while, watching the two of them go back and forth about whether Inuyasha was right to toss a man into the river.

Kaede knew that the man had been making vulgar comments about Kagome, which is what sparked the incident, but Inuyasha was apparently not going to share that information.

Might give to much away.

Kaede finally spoke, disrupting the fight. "Lunch is ready. Are you two going to come eat or just shout all afternoon?"

Kagome spun on her heel, surprised at Kaede's arrival. Inuyasha, at the mention of food, jumped from the tree, racing past both of the women to get to the food first.

Once they were alone, Kaede assured Kagome that Inuyasha meant no harm in his action, leaving out the part that he meant to make it known that no one should mess with Kagome.

"But," Kagome spoke softly, "I don't want people to be afraid of him. He's not such a bad guy, Kaede, but he acts out sometimes in ways that I think people might be scared of him again."

Kaede, recognizing Kagome's distress, patted the girl's shoulder softly. "Ah you sweet thing. I don't think the villagers are going to be afraid of him just because of one outburst. They know he's harmless now."

Kagome sniffled slightly, finally letting out her emotions. "Okay," she agreed with a heavy sigh.

Kaede could see, plain as day, the affection they held for each other. They just needed to give it time.


End file.
